“Hi, I’m a daughter of that vendor. sorry… midtown lunchers :( my mom and sister took cart to downtown. when my mom’s new cart was broken, they took downtown’s old cart to the midtown to serve you guys despite downtown customers look for us like midtown lunchers T_T. when they fixed the new cart they started to serve BF but I think they had a fight w/ halal vendors. halal vendors banned Happy well being house cart so they couldn’t stay there anymore. now mom and sisters are taking downtown spot. they are servng food in downtown.(varick st/ king st) same food same owner in downtown :)”

Of course this isn’t the first time an established vendor has intimidated a new vendor. In fact, it pretty much happens every time a new cart or truck sets up shop in Midtown. Kim from the Treats Truck got it from the Mr. Softee guy (luckily they were able to “work out a deal”), Rickshaw Dumpling deals with it all the time, and we think that Rafiqi’s scared that Udon cart away before setting their sights on El Rey Del Sabor. Thankfully the Mexican cart hasn’t been intimidated. Sadly, if we decide to boycott every cart that does this to another cart- there will be no street meat left for us to eat.

Got a surprising number of worried emails and comments over the past few days wondering where the Happy Well Being House cart (on 50th btw. 6+7th), has been. They responded yesterday: “Hi all!! This is ‘Happy Well Being House.’ We’ll be back tomorrow on wed. We got into trouble with the vending car. It had been broken and we tried to fix it up but it took time a lot. So we will work with the old vending car for little while. The food will be same anyway and we’ll make sandwiches too.” Sandwiches, huh? That should be interesting…

I’m always hesitant to check out carts when they first open. So few know exactly what they are going to do from day one, and their list of offerings ends up morphing multiple times before they settle on a set menu. (Anybody remember those white bread bulgogi sandwiches?) So when the Happy Well Being House Cart popped up on 50th btw. 6+7th a few weeks ago, I decided to stand back and wait. Their unconventional fried fish or grilled chicken with rice or potatoes menu seemed destined to be a flash in the pan. When they added bulgogi a few weeks later, things started to seem a little more promising. Once I found out they were related to the Downtown bulgogi cart that has been operating for awhile, I felt these guys were probably here to say.

“Just wanted to let you know that the new cart on 50th & 6th is now serving bulgogi. You get TONS of bulgogi with rice and salad for $6!!! But I dunno, maybe I just got a lot b/c I’m Korean… and good looking.”

With the O.G. Bulgogi Cart one block away (on 49th btw. 6+7th) things could start to get interesting. I know when a new halal stand tries to set up near a halal stand that has been in a spot for a long time, things can get really ugly, really quickly. I wonder if Korean carts follow the same code of honor…

To me there is nothing more exciting than the arrival of a brand new cart… especially when it’s as weird as this one! Meet the “Happy Well Being House” cart, which popped up on 50th street btw. 6+7th for the first time yesterday. Started by a Korean lady, and another girl (who I’m guessing is her daughter), the cart is serving up fried fish and grilled chicken, over rice or home fries for $6. They used to own an “American food” restaurant in Long Island. I don’t know what is “well being” about fried fish and hash browns but this cart is in the early lead for strangest cart of 2009.

I was already on my way to a different lunch destination, but thankfully they offered me a taste!